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RIOTS

Paris ‘not worried’ riots will affect 2024 Olympics

The city government in Paris said on Monday it was "not worried" about knock-on effects from almost a week of riots on next year's Olympic Games.

Paris 'not worried' riots will affect 2024 Olympics
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo (C) delivers a speech on July 3, 2023 in Paris. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

France has witnesssed several nights of violence in Paris suburbs and across the country since a policeman shot dead a teenager during a traffic stop last week.

READ MORE: OPINION: Riots could become France’s most dangerous crisis in decades

Although he acknowledged being “concerned about the situation” in France, Emmanuel Gregoire, deputy to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, said he had “no concerns about the impact” on the Olympics.

“We’re still a year away from the Games. We shouldn’t get our calendars mixed up,” Gregoire told AFP.

The Olympic “flame is an extraordinary opportunity to bring hope” in “a country showing extremely concerning signs,” mayor Hidalgo said at a Monday event outlining the torch route through the capital.

When the Olympic flame was brought through Paris in 2008 ahead of the Beijing Games, the route had to be completed by bus because of demonstrations by pro-Tibet protesters.

“We all have in mind the things that didn’t necessarily go well, we’re working for this to bring joy and enthusiasm,” Hidalgo said.

“We will live up to the security” needs of the Games, her sports chief Pierre Rabadan said — while adding that there would “no doubt” be disturbances.

Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said Monday that the government had “taken measures in recent days to again step up security of infrastructure” linked to next year’s Olympics.

“The nation is damaged by all of this. What’s going on obviously isn’t good for France’s image” abroad, Oudea-Castera added.

Nevertheless, “there were events like this about a year ahead of the London Games, with very violent demonstrations following police violence. London’s Games were very positive,” she said.

France’s ability to host major events like the upcoming Rugby World Cup and the Olympics had already been called into question over major failures in crowd management at the 2022 Champions League final at the Stade de France.

The venue, set to form the centrepiece of the Games, lies in one of the Paris suburbs shaken by violence since the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M. on Tuesday by a policeman.

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

France bids final farewell to Olympics with Champs-Elysees parade

France bid a final and reluctant farewell to the Paris Olympics on Saturday with a parade on the Champs-Elysees followed by a concert featuring artists from the opening and closing ceremonies.

France bids final farewell to Olympics with Champs-Elysees parade

The final event of an acclaimed summer of sport saw tens of thousands of fans gather on the French capital’s most famous avenue to applaud and cheer the nation’s new sporting heroes.

Around 70,000 people gathered for the parade featuring athletes, volunteers and public sector workers, which was followed by a multi-artist concert on a spectacular stage around the Arc de Triomphe.

“Saying thanks, not just to the athletes but to everyone who made these games magic, I think it’s fabulous,” said France’s most-decorated track athlete, Marie-Jose Perec, who lit the cauldron at the start of the Games on July 26.

“It’s a beautiful way of saying goodbye because everything must come to an end and tonight it will all be over,” the visibly emotional 200m and 400m triple gold medallist told reporters as she arrived.

Around 4,000 police were called out for a final test, having won almost almost unanimous praise for the way they kept around 12 million ticket holders for the Olympics and Paralympics safe.

After months of gloom and self-doubt in the run-up to the start of the Olympics, Parisians and the country at large threw themselves into the spirit of the Games once the sport began.

They embraced new champions such as triple gold medal-winning swimmer Leon Marchand while finding fresh reasons to celebrate veterans such as judoka Teddy Riner who won his fourth Olympic title.

“Thank you, thank you, it’s been incredible!” Riner shouted to the cheering crowd.

He, Marchand and Rugby Sevens star Antoine Dupont were among more than 100 French medal winners who were awarded the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest civilian award, in a ceremony at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe led by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The French team finished the Olympics with a record medals haul of 64, including 16 golds, securing fifth place on the international table.

The Paralympic Games from August 28-September 8 were hailed as “the most spectacular ever” by the head of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons.

Escapism

Analysts say the Games served as a form of escapism for many French people worried about the direction of the country as well as generating a rare form of national union and pride.

“Everything worked, everything functioned and French people rediscovered the virtues of national cohesion,” the head of the French Olympic Committee, David Lappartient, told reporters.

Macron is seeking to take advantage of this more positive mood, having faced widespread criticism for his decision to call snap parliamentary elections in June which blindsided Paris 2024 organisers.

The vote resulted in a hung parliament and historic gains for the far-right National Rally party.

Instead of making a speech, he recorded a poetic voiceover over images of the Olympics and Paralympics, saying it was “a summer that had already become part of French sporting legend.”

The 46-year-old was the main instigator of Saturday’s event, which was not originally part of the Olympic or Paralympic programme.

The centrist has also announced his intention to create an Olympics-inspired “national day of sport” every year on September 14.

“We need to spend time together at a day of sport, which would take place in the street, schools, in dedicated sports centres,” he told the Parisien.

Saturday night’s concert featured singer Chris, formerly of Christine & the Queens, who performed at the Paralympics opening ceremony, as well as blind Malian duo Amadou & Mariam among others.

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